Broken Arrow
by emeralddusk
Summary: The old Roy Harper was still there, but the memories were starting to break apart.


Broken Arrow

Young Justice

His hair was longer. The natural shine and prim nature had faded over the days. Or were they weeks? Months? His eyes were weary, just like the rest of his face. Once proud, bold, and compassionate, the young man's expressions were dulled and depressed. He hadn't trained; hadn't slept; he gave up eating a long time ago. Dark stubble coated his face, further blocking out the heroic, youthful nature of his being. His body was thin, pale, and worn by the new and horrible life he had to live through. The beauty, the passion, the insight, the love, the joy, the dreams, the hope, the strength, the innocence, and the friend were gone. By far, the worst part of it all was remembering who he was. Maybe he remembered it, too; maybe that's why he cries.

"Snowbirds can't fly," the man who was once a father to the young man declared. Trying to hold himself out of the cold, Roy Harper, once Speedy, once Red Arrow, let his mind drift back to better times in a happier world. He wasn't there anymore. Not sure why. Those bright, hopeful days were gone; they don't come around anymore.

_Standing beside Green Arrow, Speedy tightened his eyes behind his domino mask, and deployed his bow. The two stood and moved in harmony, releasing their arrows at the bad guys. Then, Oliver told his adopted son how proud he was of him._

Glaring down at the floor of his cold, empty house, Roy looked forward, and began to rise up. However, something stopped him; something always stopped him. Sitting back down, too weak and paralyzed to be ashamed, the red-haired young man crossed his arms, letting his hands dangle between his legsand the old, filthy couch. In one of the darkest corners of the room, Red Arrow's bow and a case of his arrows sat still; untouched for so long and covered with the dust of wasted days gone by. Now, just to shatter everything, he no longer seemed to care what he lost. In his earlier days after the first shot, he broke into tears every single time he was stopped from grabbing his arsenal. Not a day has gone by, not for so long, that he didn't bind and choke his left arm. The holes were wider now. With each hit, they grew larger, and more and more of Roy Harper faded away.

_Marching towards the Hall of Justice, surrounded by hundreds of screaming, applauding, and photograph-taking citizens, Robin, Kid Flash, Aqulad, and Speedy followed their mentors inside for the first time._

_ "We're friends, Roy," Dick told his friend, wearing his usual smile on his face. "That'll never change."_

_ Smiling back, the older boy felt his heart start to warm over. "I'll hold you to that," he calmly replied._

_ Together, the teenagers fought for what they believed in. They beat the bad guys, saved the innocent, and strove for great things. Things aren't like that now; there are no bad guys. The drug dealers, junkies, bank robbers, petty thieves; their stories were so close to what he knew. He was no better than them. Worst of all, he couldn't remember when he was better._

Cheshire isn't there anymore. Voices were raised, love ones became enemies, violent hands were laid upon those they once held, and all things sacred were broken. "I don't need this shit from you tonight!" the young man screamed, swinging his arm at his former lover. Glass was broken, blood was shed, and salvation was rejected. "Get the fuck out of here!" Roy commanded, his voice so full of rage; so full of hatred; so angry and spiteful. Holding back the tears she would have once wept for the poor lost boy she used to love, Jade turned around, and walked out the door, leaving the empty room silent and still.

Oliver took back everything at one point; said he'd be a better father, let Roy back, help him get rid of the addiction, pay for his rehabilitation, and be the friend he was supposed to be. However, Roy never answered the phone. Speedy was gone, Red Arrow was never coming back, and Young Justice had to move on.

_We all tried. KF and I went to his house alone during his first few weeks, but he just couldn't hear us. Then, Aqualad, Superboy, Artemis, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Zatanna, and I went together. We all sat in silence with him for an hour. Then, he started screaming; he was swearing, threatening to slit his throat with his own arrows, saying he wouldn't be forgiven. Then, he walked out. Artemis found him shaking off his nightmares in an alley behind a dumpster and some garbage cans._

"Roy, I know this is hard on you," the Vietnamese young woman tried to comfort her old teammate. "And…I know we were never friends, but I wanna help you. We all do. Young Justice wants you back. Please…let us help you. That's all we want."

Tightening his eyes, Roy spat on the ground. "Fuck you; fuck all of you!" he hollered, his raw throat grinding against itself. "Get the fuck away from me!" The rain fell hard that night.

"I'm worried about him, Dick," Zatanna declared, looking over her friend's shoulder as he typed.

"We all are, Zatanna," the dark-haired boy answered, his voice quiet as he struggled to keep from quaking. "But what can we do?"

"Once I became a superhero," the raven-haired young woman began, grabbing her left elbow with her right hand and looking down at the floor of the cave. "I never thought I'd be…powerless."

Lying atop her neatly ordered sheets and blankets, Jade's body remained still in the dark of the night. Suddenly, the sound of her cell phone awoke her. Without opening her eyes, the young woman answered her cell. "Hello," she groaned, shifting her feet off the bed and sitting upward.

"Jade," a familiar, somewhat rough voice replied. "Hey, I had this weird dream last night. We had a daughter."

"Really, Roy?" the Vietnamese woman happily replied, opening her eyes.

"Yeah, her name was Lian," Roy answered. "She had red hair, but…she had her mother's eyes."

The woman felt her heart start to warm. "Did she have your face, Roy?" she asked, feeling a new kind of tear forming in her eyes. The pain was gradually fading away.


End file.
